Thread: Steroids in NFL question

This might be a case of Chinese Whispers but my brother reckons that if caught using Steriods in the NFL, players only get a fine or a one match ban...

Either way he was making out it was pretty much tolerated in the sport. Sounds like total BS to me but figured I'd ask our US posters on here anyway.

At least 57 players have been suspended for at least 4 weeks for roids
Another 54+ have retired all together

A minimum of 4 weeks? That's still a very minor punishment for steroid abuse as opposed to other sports. In athletics your career is pretty much over if you get caught (Dwain Chambers).

So are steroids tolerated in the NFL? I noticed on a different thread about some baseball player that got caught using and Lyle hated on this guy becuase he was a juicer.

Would there not be as much stigma attached to an NFL player testing positive then?

Originally Posted by Conrad

A minimum of 4 weeks? That's still a very minor punishment for steroid abuse as opposed to other sports. In athletics your career is pretty much over if you get caught (Dwain Chambers).

So are steroids tolerated in the NFL? I noticed on a different thread about some baseball player that got caught using and Lyle hated on this guy becuase he was a juicer.

Would there not be as much stigma attached to an NFL player testing positive then?

The NFL regular season is only 16 games, so 4 games is a quarter of the season, which is pretty significant, however steroid testing has always been FAR more stringent in the NFL than any other team sport in the U.S., therefore making it more difficult to get away with it. However to answer your question, baseball is heavily influenced by statistics, so anything done illegally to boost your stats is considered sacriligous to baseball fans, whereas stats don't weigh as heavily in the NFL, so yes, there is not the same stigma for an NFL player who gets caught as someone in the MLB.

Spot on match....in baseball the game is about the numbers, in football (for the majority of players) it's not about numbers or stats at all.

Offensive linemen don't usually get stats, defensive linemen can rack up sacks and tackles but the most important thing they do is keep the OL's off of the linebackers so they can get tackles.

Also there is a sense of getting lost on the field in football in regards to steroid use....someone might be on roids but they are going to have to be extremely good to effect a game by themselves. If an entire team uses then it's a totally different situation. There are 11 guys on each team and if 1 guy out of 22 is on the juice it's going to be difficult to tell....in baseball it's 1 on 1 pitcher vs batter.

Originally Posted by Lyle

Spot on match....in baseball the game is about the numbers, in football (for the majority of players) it's not about numbers or stats at all.

Offensive linemen don't usually get stats, defensive linemen can rack up sacks and tackles but the most important thing they do is keep the OL's off of the linebackers so they can get tackles.

Also there is a sense of getting lost on the field in football in regards to steroid use....someone might be on roids but they are going to have to be extremely good to effect a game by themselves. If an entire team uses then it's a totally different situation. There are 11 guys on each team and if 1 guy out of 22 is on the juice it's going to be difficult to tell....in baseball it's 1 on 1 pitcher vs batter.

Well put.. Baseball is a game of 1 on 1 matchups. Think of the pitchers who gave up homeruns to sosa, mcgwire, canseco, arod, bonds etc.. That increases their ERA, and it may give them a loss on their record personally. This is costing them money as a pitcher.

If a quarterback is on roids, the benefit isn't NEARLY the same as in baseball. Big deal, Manning would be able to throw 60 yards instead of 55.
If a lineman was taking roids it would actually make more of a difference than positions like DB, QB, WR. They would have more power in the trenches but everyone in the NFL on the line is huge anyway so even then you wouldn't have a huge advantage.

Not saying that the penalties shouldn't be comparably as strict but it's a completely different dynamic.

Well the pitchers (Clemens, Pettite, et al) might have been juiced too which would help THEIR stats as well.


In football there would be a bigger story if say Peyton Manning got busted for using steroids or Willie Parker or Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes just because those guys are in a position to score touchdowns and effect the game more....but usually it's just defensive players or offensive linemen or special teamers....Bill Romanowski, Lyle Alzado, and Shawne Merriman....all juicers and all on defense